10 Comments

1. Brian Bray says:

   September 25, 2008 at 9:44 pm

   The Common Council had something interesting in their 2008-2009 Annual Action Plan regarding neighborhood branding.
   http://www.ci.buffalo.ny.us/files/1_2_1/common_council/2008-2009ActionPlan.pdf
   Page 9
2. al-alo says:

   September 26, 2008 at 7:29 am

   do you really brand a city? is Chicago or LA or Pitt a brand? they just are cities. they just develop a unique personality that cannot just be artificially assigned.

   there are exceptions. the Orlandos and LV of the world. but do we really fit into that? or do we want to become some contrived plastic city – a synthetic facade created to lure tourists?

   well, maybe the Falls should.
3. hank says:

   September 26, 2008 at 9:09 am

   Buffalo—Watch it circle the bowl.
4. Brian says:

   September 26, 2008 at 9:52 am

   Visit Buffalo – It isn’t as poor as Detroit.
5. NathanK says:

   September 26, 2008 at 1:31 pm

   Place branding is about more than catchy slogans and marketing. It’s also a growing field, and there are many cities that have already seen positive results from their branding efforts. Place branding is about setting a vision for the city and then taking action to create that vision. Therefore, place branding involves both what a place is and what it can be in the future. Any branding effort needs to be a regional effort that involves Buffalo and Niagara Falls. What Buffalo/Niagara lacks is a growing economy and the jobs that come with that. Our brand needs to focus on bringing in private investment. Taglines or slogans are only part of a branding campaign. That said, here’s my suggestion for a tagline:

   “Buffalo Niagara: Historically Innovative”

   This tagline connects our past innovations (Niagara Power Project, Erie Canal, etc.), our present (Steel Winds, Medical Campus, Globe Specialty Metals, etc.), and focuses on builing from this foundation to create a new green/tech economy in Buffalo Niagara. The vision/plan behind this slogan would involve attracting new businesses to the region and growning existing businesses, and a big part of this effort would be working to create more business friendly government, laws, and tax code.
6. Pauldub says:

   September 26, 2008 at 2:14 pm

   Good point Nathan – the two cities are pretty much right on top of each other. Package them and you have a lot more to work with.
7. buffalomom says:

   September 26, 2008 at 2:16 pm

   Do we HAVE to say NIAGARA in everything? When I lived away, it always seemed so lame – like Buffalo sucks but quick! We added a Niagara so now it’s so great.

   I understand the point of talking about the region but my personal feeling is that is part of Buffalo. You know how the NFL always show Niagara Falls when they are broadcasting a Bills game. It’s a given. It’s BUFFALO. I live in BUFFALO. Niagara stuff is just part of the whole. Valuable but not the meat – the potatoes maybe.
8. TJ says:

   September 27, 2008 at 9:53 am

   Buffalo – We can see Canada from here.
9. Heather says:

   September 28, 2008 at 10:46 am

   The first rule of branding: Perception is Reality. Are you asking for a branding strategy or a means of changing perception? Second rule is to understand your position in the market, and third is to have a viable product to market.

   From what I have seen in Buffalo so far, we are more interested in being the next Baltimore or Cleveland, and haven’t really worked to differentiate ourselves based on our core competencies. Right now there are very few things that truly set Buffalo apart from other cities in a positive way. We have far more stacked against, like high taxes, high utility costs, and tremendous blight and poverty that set us apart. These are not the things that we want to use to differentiate ourselves.
10. elias says:

    September 29, 2008 at 11:37 am

    the one thing we have, and could rival any city or region is history. yeah, i know it is not the magic bullet that would all of a sudden create prosperity here, but there is a ton of interest in it both visuals/tourists, and investment wise…how about Buffalo: Vintage City, or Buffalo: Classic City…

    it is a matter of embracing who we are. were definitely not Toronto, but we are a city with once great wealth. if we can plan it right, that old wealth can continue to make us wealth through tourism. imagine a tour to this vintage city, with an overnight or weekend stay at the newly restored classic, the statler hotel (there is interest in that building), tours of the newly restored erie canal neighborhood and the now accessible lighthouse (thats already under way), and the newly restored buffalo state asylum (ummm, i think the money is there), tours of our vintage high rises, and oh yeah, our frank lloyd wright collection, and there’s more to name…we could be like those old charming towns in europe who have not forgotten their heritage, they nurture it, except ours is late 19th/turn of the century, and it could sell itself. we have a tremendous opportunity in front of us…(praying)>>>please, powers that be, don’t screw this one up too…<<<

    but we’ll probably end up becoming Buffalo: Gateway to Charlotte…(that was tongue-in-cheek, my southern expats, we know how bad we have it, just poking fun at our innerselves…)